Enormous shards of smoky quartz and amethyst, rising from sands of crystal like stalagmites in a giant’s cave, set the mood chez Chanel, where Karl Lagerfeld was thinking about minerals, from the crystal-crusted eyebrows to the crystal fragments jutting from the top of the faceted clear-crystal heels.

Hamish Bowles, Vogue

The runway was layered in white glittery sand that sparkled like snow and the clothes were glamorous and futuristic mixing feathers, metallic tweeds and and crystal embellishments inspired by the freshness of the lotus flower.

For the collection it seems Karl Lagerfeld set out to answer one question:

How many ways can I design a peplum? The answer is a collection that shows a vast array in many fabrics.

The peplum was popular in the 1940s – the era of Film Noir‘s hey day. Cascading, layered, tweed and beaded…. In contrast to the curves of the peplum drawing attention to the waist, we saw straight styles that eliminated the waist made popular in the 1920s, notably by Coco Chanel. Many dresses in fact seemed directly inspired by collections designed by Gabrielle Chanel. In addition to the straight dresses, another early Chanel reference was the boater hats that all of the models wore – a style that Chanel also wore and popularized. Karl took us from the 1920s, to the 1940s and then to the 1950s when she returned to the world of fashion and gave us her infamous tweed suits. la chanelphile

Couture at Night

The Grand Palais was recreated into Coco Vendôme,

a dark recreation of Place Vendôme, the home of The Ritz where Coco Chanel lived.

There was an eery Film Noir mood with the set cast in black with neon lights outlining the structure and windows. Sitting high atop the center column was a robotic version of Coco herself, replacing the statue of Napolean that you would find at Place Vendôme. Models walked around the square – some say the shape that inspired the Chanel N°5 bottle – amid lampposts as if taking a late night stroll. la chanelphile

The traditional couture collection finale was the bride, who, like all the models, wore a blindfold-like headpiece and ostrich feather-covered boater hat. The gown had a medieval feel with a high neckline and ecclesiastical train.

Twinkle toes! As the spectacle drew to a close, the models appeared for a final walk in the dark, illuminated only by laser-sharp LED beams on the the tips of their shoes.

Presented at the regal Grand Palais, the runway took the form of a dark city street complete with lamps, building facades, and a starry night sky. The show was staged around a dramatic set which recreated the famous Place Vendôme in the centre of the city, a very short distance from Mademoiselle Chanel’s first boutique on rue Cambon and the Hôtel Ritz is located at number 15 on the Place Vendôme.

Les Allures de Chanel took place under a crystalline vault sparkling with stars ~ presented after nightfall because Lagerfeld wanted dark skies over the glass ceiling in the Grand Palais to show off his neon-outlined set, complete with perspex street lights and buy cheap viagra in uk twinkling black floor.

Karl Lagerfeld once called her his muse, Roberto Cavalli went crazy for her, and Louis Vuitton reported paid her $1m for a single appearance at a show during 2008 Paris Fashion Week. Jonathan Kelsey designed his ‘Amy’ shoe, and PPQ teamed up with her on a capsule collection.

The new Brigitte Bardot :: Karl Lagerfeld paid direct homage to her at the 2007 London Chanel show. Models strutted down the runway wearing impressively vertiginous up-dos and heavily kohl-rimmed eyes. When asked about his muse, the designer announced that Winehouse is ”the new Brigitte Bardot”: gap-toothed, boundary breaking and most importantly beehived. The Sun newspaper

She is a beautiful, gifted artist.

And I very much like her hairdo. I took it as an inspiration.

Because, in fact, it was also Brigitte Bardot’s hairdo in the late Fifties and price of cialis Sixties.

And now Amy has made it her own style.

Karl Lagerfeld

The Beehive which Amy apparently patented and spread to the masses gets a perfect pouf in these new ads for the house that Coco built. The other inspiration is purely Tudors, as if King Henry numbero ocho came up from hell to whisper sweet nothings into Karly’s ear.

Tears Dry On Their Own

Amy Jade Winehouse (born 14 September 1983 in London) is an English singer-songwriter, known for her eclectic mix of various musical genres including soul, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues.

Her musical formation went through listening to such jazz divas as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan; she was later influenced by contemporary metropolitan popular music as well. She represents a union of these aesthetics and of her writing (she composes her music herself): a happy compromise and fusion of ’40s jazz, ’60s soul and hard texts inspired by daily life.

Winehouse’s 2003 debut album Frank was a commercial and critical success. Her 2006 follow-up album Back To Black led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the record for one of the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first singer from the United Kingdom to win five Grammys. She has won the Ivor Novello Award three times, one in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for “Stronger Than Me”, one in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for “Rehab”, and one in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for “Love Is A Losing Game”. {Wikipedia}

A contemporary Gabrielle, clad in a skin-tight camel catsuit, rides a motorcycle like a bad boy,

wasting no time zipping from Place Vendôme to Place de la Concorde

on her Ducati from the 70s and breaking hearts along her way.

Keira Knightley stars as the Chanel Superwoman,

a modern day Coco Chanel whose mystery, daring and rebelliousness are at the heart of her charm,

in the new mini-movie’ advert for Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle fragrance.

She is a daredevil model attending a photoshoot that turns into a teasing romance.

She wakes up in nothing but Coco Mademoiselle perfume,

before zipping-up her beige catsuit and

heading off on a vintage motorcycle for some racy driving around the streets of Paris.

Arriving at a studio, with a replica of the legendary mirrored staircase at Coco Chanel’s Rue Cambon apartment, she is greeted by a very handsome photographer, Alberto Ammann. The pair get down to the business of capturing Keira’s ravishing natural beauty, she’s unzipping her catsuit and with one devastatingly sexy look, teling him it’s now a ‘closed set’…..

For the ending of smouldering Keira Knightley motorbike escapade to obtain the Coco Mademoiselle fragrance…

Chanel’s newest short-film/commercial for their perfume Coco Mademoiselle was directed by Joe Wright {Pride & Prejudice and Atonement}, captured by Mario Testino, production / set design, Sarah Greenwood and accompanied by Joss Stone’s version of ‘It’s a man’s world’.

Behind the scenes with Keira Knightley as Coco Mademoiselle

“For me, Gabrielle Chanel is an icon and there was an incredible power emanating from all the photos of her,” states Knightley. “When I began to delve into her history more closely, I was obviously fascinated by her immense talent as a designer, but more than that, by her singular background.”

Director Joe Wright discusses what influenced him as he made this beautiful commercial about the Chanel fragrance. Keira Knightley talks about being the star of the latest Chanel advertising film and the face of Coco Mademoiselle.

In April 2006, Knightley joined the legendary league of women who have represented CHANEL in global advertising campaigns. Her elegance, beauty and modernity are some of her qualities that parallel the iconic faces featured in the CHANEL fragrance campaigns, including Nicole Kidman, Ali McGraw, Catherine Deneuve and Audrey Tautou for N°5, Vanessa Paradis for Coco and Anna Mouglalis for Allure Sensuelle.